


Before I Had Begun

by mansikka



Category: Shadowhunters (TV)
Genre: Alec Lightwood & Jace Wayland Friendship, Domestic, Fluff, M/M, Not Suitable/Safe For Work, Playful Sex, Smut, Switching
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-09-25
Updated: 2017-09-25
Packaged: 2018-12-31 15:04:03
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 7,261
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12135048
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/mansikka/pseuds/mansikka
Summary: Magnus is returning home after a week away working. Alec clears his schedule so they can have some time alone.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Hello :)
> 
> Firstly, chapter one deserves a rating of general audiences or teen; the other two chapters have earned this its explicit rating - I didn't want to change the rating after posting chapter one and give anyone an unpleasant surprise!
> 
> Secondly; chapter one is Alec waiting to speak to Jace before he goes home and waits for Magnus. He's musing over the way he feels for Magnus and how he thought he felt for Jace, but I promise; this is a Malec fic, not any other ship. Although... there is NO ship shaming here either; despite what I think about certain ships - in any fandom - I don't do that.
> 
> And thirdly, I'm team!switch all the way, and dislike debates on who tops and bottoms. Just so you know :)
> 
> Um. Enjoy... :) x

When Alec looks at Jace now, it feels as though he is viewing him through an entirely different set of eyes than he used to.  

The Jace that he grew up with, became parabatai with—had believed himself to be in love with for one very, very long period—is still there, of course; cocky smile, confident posture, and underneath all of that, a heart of gold. It’s just that now Alec’s experienced what it’s really like to be in love with someone, there really is nothing to compare the two.

Maybe there are qualities about his relationship with Jace that duped him into thinking what he felt for him was love. Jace, after all, accepts him at face value, is honest with him even to a fault, can reach him like no one else can no matter how dark the mood he’s slumped into, or wherever his thoughts might have gotten him lost.  

But to experience all of those things in the company of someone he truly loves, Alec thinks, watching Jace pound out his adrenalin on a punchbag, is a completely different feeling. Almost an entirely different world. And he doesn’t think those things meaning to belittle what Jace means to him, because Jace is still part of what keeps him whole. It’s just _different_ ; a very different sharing of bonds, and an entirely different bond of love.

When Alec thinks of Magnus, it’s like his soul is smiling. A peace descends on him in ways that the version of himself from just a few years ago would have scoffed at even the suggestion of. And when he’s with him, there’s this feeling he gets in his very core that he’s spent a lot of time trying to find a definition for. It’s comfort, certainty, safety, and belonging—and a whole lot more besides.

Alec sighs to himself, knowing from the set of Jace’s shoulders he’s got a good few more minutes of waiting for him to be done. He already trained with Clary today, so it’s not like he’s in the mood for joining in himself. Though he does have an anxious, fluttering feeling in his stomach he could do with being rid of—that’s got nothing to do with the man who’s stood before him, but rather for the one soon to be waiting in their apartment, returning home from a trip that to Alec’s mind has taken far too long.

 _Warlock business_ , Magnus had told him when he was preparing to leave, and not in a way meant to placate him, or even to put his mind at ease. Alec knew that whatever _business_ was conducted between a group of talented, powerful warlocks would be done with drinks in hand even as they conjured magic with their free ones, and an endless flow of liquor that would see their meetings spill over into bars and clubs, and not be resolved until the sun came up. Or went down again.

Alec looks at his phone, smiling as he thumbs through the increasingly inebriated series of selfies Magnus had sent him over the course of one particular evening, talking Magnus down from portaling back to see him, because Alec feared in the drunken state that he was, any portal he succeeded in opening would take him to places who knew where.  

Magnus had even sent him a picture of himself in his hungover state the following morning, announcing he didn’t deserve to cure himself of it without apologizing to Alec first for the way he’d behaved with him over the phone.

Alec had spent a good hour sat at his desk doing literally nothing else but grinning at him adoringly, and reassuring Magnus that he was okay with him drunk calling him and singing at him in… whatever languages that had been, at any hour of the morning. Even with an out of tune chorus of other drunken people joining in in the background, and confessing their love for him as well...    

Alec glances up at Jace still focused on the punchbag, then back at his phone, scrolling through a ton of treasured photos that he keeps of Magnus and sneaks looks at throughout his day, whenever he gets a moment. And then he’s rereading their recent messages, full of _I love you_ s and promises, lingering over the last one with a longing, settling feeling in his gut for the words _I’ll be home soon_.

Alec grins to himself at that and counts the time out in minutes, not sure he can wait for the loft to again be filled with the vibrancy that is Magnus; it’s felt so bland without him, that it’s been like an entirely different apartment in his absence. Alec then smiles yet again at the thought of the loft being his _home_.

He’d moved in with Magnus without fuss or ceremony. Not because it didn’t deserve celebrating, but more because it was just a natural, expected progression of things between them, one that didn’t really need acknowledging to anyone but them. He’d packed up the last few of his belongings from his childhood room, barely taken a second to glance around the bareness there, then stepped through the waiting portal and straight into Magnus’ arms, abandoning unpacking those things into the spaces already cleared for him on shelves and in closets, and enjoying a thorough welcome home that still makes his face flush and his stomach bloom with heat for remembering.

A similar feeling to what he’s expecting the second he gets Magnus home in a couple of hours, Alec adds to himself, rolling his eyes as Jace swears at himself for missing a target.  

Everything with Magnus feels like a natural progression. There isn’t a moment that happens between them that Alec feels is unexpected, and anything he ever begins to suggest tends to already be falling from Magnus’ mouth. They are so easy together, that it really should be overwhelming, or even alarming, he thinks. But it isn’t, not in any way at all; there are more ways to come home than just returning to an apartment, Alec thinks then with a sigh, not sure he can wait to wrap Magnus up in his arms.

“You nearly done?” Alec calls out, finally out of patience for Jace to finish whatever routine he’s got set in his head. Not so long ago, he would have known that routine for himself, been able to tell in exact minutes just how much longer he had to wait. But it’s been so long since he’s paid Jace that kind of attention, that he almost feels guilty that his focus has dropped. Then chides himself for it, repeating the belief that’s taken a long while to acknowledge to himself—with Magnus’ help, of course; he is allowed to put his own wants and needs first.

“Two more minutes,” Jace pants back at him, and Alec holds back a sigh of impatience, but nods anyway, returning to thinking of Magnus.

That horrible nightmare that had been Valentine and the Soul Sword in the Institute had been the catalyst for Alec getting his words out, and letting Magnus know that he was loved. But the actual moment when he’d realized he was in love with Magnus, Alec remembers clear as anything.

A sleepy, Sunday morning, with the sun streaming in through the window and bathing the bedroom in a soft, soothing light. Magnus had been asleep on his chest, and he’d barely stirred when Alec had lifted him just enough to slip from beneath him to use the bathroom, settling back against the bed with an absent mumble that Alec took with him in a smile as he left.  

He’d returned to find Magnus curled into his pillow with a smile on his face, looking more at peace with himself than Alec thought he had ever seen him. And Alec had stood there, struck dumb by the side of the bed just staring at him, identifying that fluttering, emulsifying feeling constantly coursing through him in Magnus’ company for what it really was.

Alec’s still smiling at the memory when Jace comes to stand before him, panting and out of breath, ducking just enough to force eye contact as he flicks his hair back from his forehead.

“So? What’s so urgent you needed to stand there and ogle me, huh?” Jace asks, and Alec laughs a little harsher than he means to considering his head’s so full of _Magnus_ on repeat, disguising it with a clearing of throat and an easy smile.

“I need you to take over for a few days,” Alec replies as they turn and begin walking together.

“Take over?” Jace repeats, shaking his head. “Take over what?”

“This place,” Alec tells him with a gesture of his hand, “just… keep an eye, okay? I’m taking a bunch of stuff home to deal with, but if anything comes up, I want something in place here,”

Though in truth, he thinks to himself, he’s not got much work left outstanding at all; he’s stayed late most nights because he can’t bear to be alone in the apartment, and has had little success falling asleep by himself.

“And I’m that something,” Jace summarizes for him with an easy smile.

“You, Izzy, and Clary,” Alec confirms, scowling at the snort he receives the second he says Clary’s name. Jace is never going to let him forget his earlier attitude towards her, Alec thinks with a groan to himself. At least Clary has the decency to only bring it up when she’s teasing him about something.

“Taking some time with Magnus, huh?” Jace smiles, and Alec knows that’s supposed to be teasing as well. But since he really couldn’t care what anyone is thinking about him and Magnus, he answers only with a lazy shrug.

“I’ll be around if you need something. Not like I can’t get back here if anything comes up,”

Alec is sure Jace mumbles something inappropriate under his breath about _other_ things coming up, but chooses to ignore it, though still shoves hard against his arm and ducks out of his reach when Jace tries to return it.

“That okay with you?” Alec asks then, and he knows it’s probably a stupid question. But he’s spent a couple of hours today arguing and counter-arguing with himself about it, even if he knows he’s overdue some time off.  

“Like you even needed to ask,” Jace laughs, finally getting his own shove in and raising his arms in triumph, quickening his step to escape Alec’s answering grasp.  

“Just wanted to check,” he says anyway, “Clary knows. Izzy knows. Just… keep it to you guys unless it’s anything important, okay?”

“Of course,” he says, and Jace’s smile for him then, Alec suspects speaks of just how pleased he is for him. He smiles back in answer, and tries to keep his thoughts on his final tasks there at the Institute before he can go home.

With a straightening of his spine as they round the corner, Alec begins to list all the things he thinks Jace might need to keep an eye out for, highlighting the two items which are the only ones that have a very minor chance of posing actual problems. But he’s cut off with Jace clamping a hand around his shoulder and squeezing, forcing him to look back at him and be greeted with a smile.

“Alec,” he says, laughing, “you’re gonna leave us a list of all this stuff on your desk, aren’t you,”

“...yes,”

“And,” Jace continues, rolling his eyes at him, “you’re gonna back that up with an email, copying in Clary and Izzy anyway. Am I right?”

“Yeah,” Alec admits, huffing to himself for his over-efficiency that’s earning him such a mocking look back at him.  

“So? Get going,” Jace enthuses, knocking against his arm again, “we’ve got this. We’ll call if we need anything,”

“You’re okay with this,” Alec repeats, though his mind has already left.  

“Just… go, will you?” Jace laughs. “You’ve been like a... caged bear since he left. And when you haven’t been, you’ve been staring so hard at your phone it’s like you thought you could make him appear. Sickening, man,”

Alec thinks about a witty retort, then just waves his hand dismissively, knowing there is no argument.  

“Thanks, Jace,” he says instead, coming to a stop before Jace begins to turn off down a separate corridor.

“No problem,” Jace smiles, turning, then pivoting back again. “Say hi to Magnus,”

“I will,” Alec tells him, already planning all sorts of other things he plans to say to Magnus. And do. But not with his brother standing right there by his side. “I’ll… see you soon,”

* * *

 

 


	2. Chapter 2

Magnus descends on him like a whirlwind.  

Alec’s barely been back in the apartment ten minutes, having quickly straightened up pillows and tweaked curtains then jumped straight in the shower, when he hears Magnus calling out to him repeatedly, seeking him out.

“Alec? Alec!” he hears, seconds before the bathroom door swings open and a loud, pleased hum fills the air. “Well, this is convenient,”

Without even time to make room for him, Magnus is joining Alec in the shower, humming as he runs repeated hands up and down his chest before pressing firmly up against him, tilting his head back in expectation of a kiss.

“Alexander,” Magnus smiles, just before Alec ducks, and all Alec can concentrate on then is the feel of Magnus pressed up against him, the way he molds his lips against his own and darts out his tongue to taste. He raises a hand to cup the back of Magnus’ head, the other slipping to his lower back with his fingers flaring out over the curve of his ass, as Magnus shows no such discretion, and just reaches around to squeeze him with greedy hands, bringing them even more flush together.

“Hey,” Alec mumbles out belatedly, that ineffable feeling for just _being_ with Magnus coiling through his core once again.

“I missed you,” Magnus mumbles against his lips, turning until Alec is pressed back against the shower wall, then moving his hand to stroke over his stomach, his thumb making a point of trailing a path all the way up the hair there.

“Missed you too,” Alec tells him, sure his skin’s humming for that press of thumb against him, raising both hands to cup his face and deepening their kiss.  

“I bought gifts,” Magnus announces when he takes a breath, though his hand dipping down between them to grip Alec doesn’t exactly invite much of a reply.

“You did,” Alec stutters out anyway in agreement, spreading his hands wide on Magnus’ hips and rolling himself through the thread of his fingers.

“I meant actual, physical gifts,” Magnus amends, looking down and humming as Alec thickens in his hand, then nuzzling his way into his neck.

“This is… kinda physical,” Alec manages to tease, but then his head is thumping back against the wall for the way Magnus alters his grip, humming in response.

“Can I take you to bed?” Magnus asks, pulling back enough for Alec to see just how quick he is swelling himself, then spending a few seconds angling himself so that they’re sliding together under the shower spray, which does nothing but weaken Alec’s knees.

“Yeah,” he blurts out, eyes riveted for a moment before he has to reach out and touch Magnus for himself.  

Magnus arches into his hand, throwing his head back and inviting Alec to bend down and mouth along his neck, humming in approval the moment Alec’s lips are on his skin.

“C’mon,” Magnus says with a tilt of his head towards the door, already reaching out to switch off the shower.  

They towel each other dry, though it’s more an exercise in even more kisses and exploration, with Magnus’ hand slotting down between Alec’s legs to stroke and insinuate what he plans to do once they’re horizontal. But then there’s a look passing between them, one that is a sweet reminder that they’re both here now, and together having been apart for almost a week, and nothing else needs to be said, or done. They fall into a hug, sinking against one another, with absent kisses pressed into necks and shoulders as arms wrap tight around backs, and their contentment is blasted out of them both with a joint sigh.

“Let’s go to bed,” Alec whispers against his ear as they pull back a fraction, and Magnus only nods against him before slotting their fingers together and tugging.

Alec is on his back in the center of the bed before he even has time to register it, loving when Magnus is like this, a roll of anticipatory heat surging through his gut. And soon there isn’t an inch of his skin that Magnus hasn’t kissed in greeting. He makes these pleased little hums the entire time he does it, smiling there against him every time Alec reaches out to splay his hands over his shoulder blades, or wherever he can get to.  

“I love you,” he whispers as he arranges Alec’s legs how he wants them, then leans up to half drape over him, clicking his fingers mid air for Alec to see how they now glisten. And when Alec parts his legs a little more in invitation, Magnus’ eyes flutter closed, and Alec feels his cock jolt hard against his hip. So he does it once more when his eyes are open again, earning himself a slide of tongue against the seam of his lips, and a soft laugh when he groans and arches his neck to the feeling of Magnus’ finger beginning to press into him.

“I missed you,” Magnus adds just as softly, shifting a little so he’s up on his forearm, playing with strands of Alec’s hair as he opens him up, encouraging him for every whimper he gives with another kiss or smile.

The first time Magnus had done this to him, Alec had been frightened to voice out loud just how much he liked it. That very first intrusion into a place he’d never quite got around to exploring for himself had him tensing up and almost backing away from Magnus, surprised that he could feel so _much_.  

But with Magnus’ gentle encouragement and continual rain of kisses and smiles, just like he’s doing to him now, Alec had freed himself enough of his inhibitions to let him know he liked it. And now, he doesn’t hold back at all with instructions for _there_ , or _harder_ , or _like that_ —although to be honest, Magnus knows his body well enough by now not to need to be given much direction at all.

Which he proves just then, Alec has a second to think, before he’s groaning out loud at the way Magnus is alternately nudging against his prostate with his fingertips, then scissoring him open, inviting him to look at what he’s doing.

“I need you,” Alec whimpers as he stares down at himself spread wide on Magnus’ fingers, feeling suddenly that if he doesn’t get Magnus in him right now, then he isn’t sure what he might do. Which is a ridiculous thought, he corrects himself, as Magnus is already willingly crawling between his legs. Like Magnus would ever deny him a single thing.

Alec reaches down to splay himself, watching as Magnus first presses against him, then dips in, and begins to push inside. He doesn’t look away again until Magnus is fully seated, and even then Alec’s taking a moment before sliding his hands away, having recently discovered how much he likes to trail his fingertips over where Magnus is spearing him open.

Magnus looks down and watches him doing it, apparently unable to stop smiling.

“I am _here_ , Alexander,” he teases, with a tiny stir of his hips, before falling forward and bracketing Alec’s face between his forearms, then starting to withdraw.  

Alec hums at the slide of Magnus back into him, gripping on to his hips for a few seconds as he does, then slipping his hands over his chest, enjoying the smoothness of it without any adornments almost as much as he likes feeling the trail of Magnus’ necklaces over his own skin.  

But then he’s slipping his hands behind his back and resting his hands on Magnus' shoulder blades to pull him closer, having no intention of not keeping his lips on Magnus’ even as he repeatedly fills him, needing this to go on long, and leisurely, so he can savor every push of him inside.

“I missed you,” Alec whispers, smiling up at him even as he groans out softly for the heat Magnus is stroking into him, letting him set the pace yet doing his best to meet him every time.

“As I missed you,” Magnus assures him, his own eyes fluttering closed as a blasted out moan bursts from his lips, and he ducks to whisper in Alec’s ear just how good he feels inside. Magnus’ praise for him used to bring out the most furious of blushes, and though there’s still a few things he says that leave him flushed, these days Alec is more spurred on by his words than embarrassed by them; even doing his best to say similar things back at times.

“I’m… gonna try and take a few days off,” Alec adds, which earns him first a slow smile, then a slowing of Magnus’ hips until he’s just filling him whole and holding it there, buried inside him, humming as Alec flexes around him.  

“Really,” Magnus asks after that pause, raising himself just enough to wrap his fingers around Alec’s cock, swirling his thumb up over his head and grinning at the way Alec’s stomach flutters.

“Yeah,” he nods, “Jace and—”

“This is the last place I want to be hearing about _Jace_ ,” Magnus immediately counters with a snort of laughter, and Alec completely agrees, the second nature with which Jace’s name falls from his lips perhaps another stark reminder of how different their bonds are between them.  

“Point is,” Alec says, angling his feet a little further apart and writhing on Magnus’ cock, “unless you’ve got anything planned, we can stay in this bed indefinitely, if you want,”

It wouldn’t be the first time either; there have been numerous occasions like this one when they’ve holed up and only left their room for the bathroom, with Magnus magicking food and other refreshments in when they need sustenance.

“I do like the sound of that,” Magnus agrees, but then he’s snapping his hips harder, and that whirlwind feeling he’d greeted him with falls on Alec once again, helpless but to hold on and take all that Magnus is giving him.  

“Do this for me,” Magnus urges against his lips before pulling back enough to reach around and grab Alec’s wrist, guide it down and replace his own fingers with Alec’s around his cock. Another thing Alec had been too nervous to do in front of Magnus initially; now he just revels in the lust-filled looks and constant praise that falls out of Magnus’ mouth as he watches him touch himself.

They build up a rhythm, with Alec matching every thrust into him with a stroke of his own, until his feet are scrambling for purchase against the satin of their sheets, and the groans falling from his lips are all but continuous.

“Let me see,” Magnus tells him, and yet another former inhibition of Alec’s falls to the wayside; he raises his eyes to look back at Magnus and doesn’t look away again, letting him see the way he’s building, and keeping that eye contact as he arches beneath him and comes—only shutting them when Magnus falls into the crook of his neck with a desperate-sounding gasp, pressing there as he fucks into him until he stills, groans, and collapses against him seconds later.

The aftermath of when they’re like this together is one of Alec’s favorite, favorite things. Magnus raises his head just enough to smile down at him, then leans in for a sweet, soft kiss. He stirs his hips, letting Alec know he has every intention of staying inside him for as long as he is able, then hums as Alec’s hands slide down his back and grip around his waist. And they press as close as possible, kisses and whispers and smiles of affection, nuzzling into one another and barely pulling apart. The sigh Magnus gives as he brushes his lips over Alec’s is nothing less than the wordless expression of how content Alec himself is feeling; even if they have just told each other that multiple times.

“I love you,” Alec says then, realizing he’s yet to say it loud enough for Magnus to really hear, even though he’s mumbled it repeatedly.

“I love you too,” is his answer, and four words should not sound so triumphant, satisfied, and full of affection—yet they do. Magnus nuzzles against him then, and drops a kiss on his cheek, sinking down once more into the crook of his neck, and humming as Alec wraps his arms tight around him.   

* * *

 

 


	3. Chapter 3

“How many days do I get you?”

Magnus is stirring himself awake against Alec’s chest, and in doing so peppering kisses over his skin, as his hands sweep out wide over his sides. Alec hums at the feel of it, smiling for waking after the first good night's sleep he's had since Magnus left.

“Unless there’s any emergencies, I think the rest of the week,” Alec tells him, parting his legs so Magnus can fit between them more comfortably. Magnus hums at the gesture, then rests his chin against his sternum and looks up.

“...and the weekend?”

“And the weekend,” he agrees, “I’ve got a _lot_ of time owed to me,”

“All those hours you used to work,” Magnus sighs, circling his chin over him before settling again, “I’m sure the Clave must be quite disappointed about the influence I’ve had on you,”

“Don’t care,” Alec immediately tells him, and he doesn’t. He gave all his life to the Clave without question until Magnus came into his world, and even since then he can’t be accused of not putting in a hundred percent. The hours he sometimes spends locked up in his office with infuriating paperwork, or attending meetings where he seems to do more soothing of frayed egos than doing anything that makes a real difference means that Alec has gone beyond that all-important, never-disputed respect he once had for the Clave. He has other reasons for that, of course, but either way now, he does his duty, performs what is expected of him, but always asks questions if there’s something that doesn’t sit right. Which is likely to invite more disappointment from the Clave than any association with Magnus, Alec adds to himself, immediately pushing all thoughts of it to one side.

“So; what are we going to do with all these days stretched out before us?” Magnus asks, though it’s more like he’s musing out loud. Alec can see the plans stirring behind his eyes even without him saying a single word. And can tell the exact moment when he decides that what he’d like to do more than anything, is stay right where they are currently.

“Whatever you want,” Alec says anyway, sweeping his hands up over his shoulder blades before pushing back the hair that’s falling down over his forehead, and using his thumb to swipe at a smudge of eyeliner that’s found its way to the top of his cheek.  

Magnus smiles at the gesture, tucking his hands underneath Alec's sides and laying his cheek down on his chest with a contented little huff that has Alec smiling in answer.

“This is a good start,”

“Did you get everything done you were meant to?” Alec asks, recalling Magnus pacing the apartment as he prepared to leave and bemoaning all the things he and the other warlocks were going to have to discuss.

“More or less,” Magnus says with a nod against him that’s followed up by another kiss to his chest, “there were a few sticking points—”

Alec feels the grimace more than sees it, and grins to himself for the tickle of stubble as he does.

“—but on the whole, yes. Though my highlight of the entire meeting—aside from coming home, of course—was quite possibly that drunken singing I subjected you to,”

Alec laughs hard at that, hard enough to dislodge Magnus, and have him raising and wriggling his way up the bed so he’s bracketing Alec’s face between his elbows, the stoop of his fingers just enough to play with his hair.  

“You have a good voice,” Alec tells him, thrilled and savoring the rarity that is him making _Magnus_ blush for once.   

“I’m sure not as angelic as _yours_ when you’re singing in the shower and you don’t think I’m listening,” Magnus counters, but Alec’s not biting. He just wraps his arms a little tighter around him and breathes deep, sure that he feels like he’s been put back together now that he’s got Magnus home.

“Did I miss anything?” Magnus asks, nuzzling against his cheek.

“Nothing interesting,” Alec tells him, pressing a kiss to his temple, “although. Clary showed me this rune when we were training that I’ve never seen before. Got no idea what it’s supposed to do, either,”

“She is gifted,” Magnus agrees with a kiss along his collarbone, “far more advanced than Jocelyn achieved in all of her efforts,”

Alec tries not to flinch on hearing Jocelyn’s name, but Magnus feels the ripple through his body and is immediately soothing him with kisses, distracting him further by flipping them over so that he is now on his back.

“Cheating,” Alec accuses half-heartedly, though has no objection to Magnus using his magic to do things like that, and is very aware of just how easily Magnus can pin him to the bed with nothing but the strength of his body. He shivers at the thought of just that and earns himself a knowing smile.

“I like to think of it more as a… signal,”

“A signal?”

“More of a… heavy dropping of a hint,” Magnus amends, reaching down between them to adjust and line them up together, then sliding his hands round to grip Alec’s ass and pull him flush against him.

“You could’ve just said,” Alec smiles, though is already kissing up the length of his neck and beginning to stir his hips in the exact way he knows Magnus likes.

“True. But this was just as effective, don’t you think?”

Alec only hums in response, sliding his hands under Magnus’ thighs so he knows to lift them and wrap his legs around his waist.

“It’s been a very long week,” Magnus tells him with a contented sigh, arching up the fraction he can for the way Alec’s got him.

“It has,” Alec agrees, kissing a long trail up his neck before claiming his mouth in a soft kiss that he feels Magnus smiling against, “think I might’ve… pissed a few people off,”

“Oh?” Magnus asks, sweeping his hands up over Alec’s back and leaning up to press a hard kiss to his cheek as Alec pulls back to look at him.

“Yeah,” he sighs, “apparently, I was _too harsh_ with a couple of people, and it was _like having emo Alec back_ ; which I’ve got no idea what it’s supposed to mean,”

“Clary?” Magnus guesses, sounding thoroughly amused; Alec pays him back for that with a longer stirring of his hips that has Magnus pressing his head back into the pillow and biting down on his lip with a low hum.

“Yeah. But you know; Izzy had a few things to say as well. Less polite,” Alec laughs, groaning at the memory of her fury at him, as he drops his forehead down in the crook of Magnus’ neck.

“Whatever could have put you in such a foul mood?” Magnus teases, pressing a hand in the middle of Alec’s back that tells him he wants him to stop, then dropping his legs back down to the bed and nudging Alec up so he can reach down and grip them in his hand, both of them groaning out as his fingers close around them.

“You,” Alec breathes out hard, “you, not being here,” which earns him a thumb swirled out over his head that has his breath catching. Alec looks down then, watching the way the two of them slide in the tight grip of Magnus’ palm.

“I am sure, were you to ask them,” Magnus begins to say, swirling his thumb out over both of their heads in turn and humming for it before continuing to stroke them over, “those attending my meetings and having to put up with my company these past few days would likely tell you the same,”

“Yeah?” Alec asks, knowing it’s irrational to feel so pleased, and proud that Magnus might miss him enough for it to alter his behavior.  

“Yes,” Magnus says decisively, dragging his eyes from watching the way they’re sliding together, and back up to his face, “I think _irritable, short tempered,_ and _impossible to get any sense out of_ are three of the phrases used to describe me by my peers,”

“Hey,” Alec protests, nuzzling against him, “I don’t believe that for a second,”

“Oh; I was still professional throughout all of that,” Magnus assures him, “I just might have been a little… impatient… possibly dismissive with people,”

Magnus’ hand is out and playing with his ear since he magicked all his jewelry off earlier, and Alec just has to kiss him again for how adorable he is when he’s embarrassed.  

“The High Warlock of Brooklyn, flustered and unable to focus on his job,” he teases, “I almost wish I was there to see it,”

“I’d have you along in a heartbeat,” Magnus retorts, adjusting his grip on them and making them both gasp out, “but I fear you would be bored out of your mind,”

“I guess it’d be the same if you spent a day with me working at the Institute,”  

“Like some kind of… Shadow World take-your-boyfriend-to-work-day thing?” Magnus suggests, which just has Alec laughing all over again.

“Something like that,” he agrees, reaching down between them and sweeping up their precum, then adjusting on his knees a little and dropping his hand to circle his thumb over Magnus’ hole. Magnus immediately pushes back against him with a soft groan that has them both pulsing in Magnus’ palm.  

“I need you,” Magnus tells him, and it’s soft, but so full of that need that Alec presses a little harder, and flicks his tongue into his mouth. Magnus releases his grip on them and is fumbling out to the side, where Alec presumes he’s trying to reach for their bedside cabinet. He presses Magnus’ hand into the bed and retrieves the lube himself, sitting back on his haunches and cracking open the bottle.  

Alec settles down on his side, parting Magnus’ cheeks and slickening his hole enough for his fingers to begin dipping into him. He takes it slow, knowing every press and angle that Magnus likes, and keeps up a constant rain of kisses, smiling in reward for every groan Magnus gives him back.

There’s a point they get to when they’re together like this, where Magnus is spearing himself on Alec’s fingers at the perfect angle to repeatedly strike his prostate, and Alec thinks he could happily lay there and watch him do that until he comes. But then Magnus is whimpering out pleas for him, tugging Alec closer and urging him to lay between his legs. Then arches up so sinfully beneath him when Alec slides into him, that Alec has to grit his teeth and blank his thoughts a little to make sure he doesn’t come.

Honestly, he thinks to himself as he catches his breath in the crook of Magnus’ neck, the noises coming out of this man’s mouth are nothing short of indecent.

“You okay there?” Magnus teases, and Alec knows his mind’s gone the same place as his own; to a long way back in their history the evening before Alec had got his stamina rune, saying he had to, because otherwise Magnus felt so good, that he didn’t think he’d ever last.

He’s obviously had ample practice since, Alec laughs silently to himself, but that truth is still relevant; Magnus does feels so very, very good like this, that it’s impossible for him not to have to take a moment to pause before they really get going. Even if part of that is to savor the way he’s clenching around him.

Still. He’s not above retorting to Magnus’ teasing with a hard slam of his hips that has Magnus calling out and arching with a breathy gasp. Which is just invitation for him to do it again.  

With a single wink to warn him, Alec hooks his arms under Magnus’ knees until he’s got him folded up and spread open beneath him, smiling at the ripple of his stomach and the hard swallow he gives in answer. And then he’s slamming into him, cataloguing every grunt and groan and cry for more, as Magnus’ hand clutches feebly at his arm then falls with a defeated soft thud to the sheets.  

Magnus laid out like this beneath him and just taking all he’s giving him with nothing but encouragement for him to keep going, Alec’s sure is quite like nothing else.  

He monitors his expression, the swallow of his Adam’s Apple, the _oh_ of his lips when he arches, the breathy half-words that punch their way out of his mouth. And when he’s sure Magnus is only seconds away from coming, Alec pulls back, gently lowering his legs to the bed and stroking them over to work out any knots from being cramped up, all as Magnus whimpers and whines for him to fill him again.

Alec loves to tease him like this, and he knows for all his protests, Magnus does too, so leans down to let them slot and knock together, then presses bluntly at his hole without any real force behind it, letting out a low moan himself.  

“Alec,” Magnus cries out, a little more desperately than he has so far. Alec can’t deny him, so leans down again to give him a soothing kiss, then settles between his legs again, humming as he slides back in.

“Hey,” he mumbles against Magnus’ lips as he wraps his arms around him and lets out a relieved sigh.

“Hello,” Magnus says back, tilting his chin up for further kisses and meeting every roll of Alec’s hips with ones of his own, a languid rhythm building between them full of happy sighs and smiles.  

Alec tucks his arms in closer, determined to touch as much of Magnus as he can at every point possible. Magnus sweeps his hands wide repeatedly over his back and does his best to huddle even closer as well, jostling them into giggles and even wider smiles.

“I’m so glad you’re back,” Alec tells him, whispering it as though it’s a secret as he toys with his hair, sighing as Magnus slides a hand up to cup the back of his neck.

“I barely slept,” Magnus confesses, sighing as though he really hasn’t slept in days.

“And that was… nothing to do with all the drinking, and singing, and dancing—”

“There was no dancing,” Magnus begins to object; Alec snorts and raises an eyebrow, to which Magnus concedes immediately with a rueful smile. “Perhaps there was a little dancing,”

Alec hums into his neck, remembering the times that he’s danced with Magnus himself, and picking up his pace a little, which Magnus seems to approve of by the way he arches.

“We could go dancing,” Alec mumbles into Magnus’ ear, snapping his hips a little harder and shifting up enough to slot his hand down between them to grip around Magnus’ cock.

“We could,”

“We could go to that little club you like,” Alec continues, smiling as Magnus groans in response to him changing his grip.

“The one with the… the one with that terrace overlooking the streets in Lisbon?” Magnus asks, but it’s choked out and gasped as Alec speeds up yet again.

“I guess,” Alec replies, beginning to pant and gasp himself, “I just... remember you there... and me there... and how beautiful you looked dancing,”

“Alexander…” Magnus manages to stutter out, before he’s blasting out another gasp and arching, come striking both their chests.  

Alec slows as he looks down between them, and, because he knows the reaction it will get him, swipes through the mess now cooling on Magnus’ chest, and sucks his thumb into his mouth. Magnus’ expected answering whimper and the way he’s still fluttering around him drives Alec to drop his head down in Magnus’ neck and slam into him another half dozen times, before he’s stiffening, grinding into him as a tight curl of heat licks through him, and forcing a hard groan from deep in his throat.  

Alec closes his eyes and presses kisses into his neck, smiling at the feel of Magnus’ heart racing against his chest, and tucks himself in closer still, sighing out in a blast.

“This is quite the welcome home,” Magnus tells him, cupping the back of Alec’s head for a moment before looping his arms around his neck, arching up against him and humming.

“Well, you know,” Alec replies, nuzzling against him, “I was gonna go all out. Light candles. Order in food. Get that wine you like—I did that, actually,”

“You do spoil me,” Magnus says, and there’s an obvious, pleased smile to his voice as he says it.

“I was gonna run down and get you flowers after I’d showered,” Alec adds, cursing at himself a little for not having done that on the way home. There’s a florist nearby that Magnus loves, that he’s always coming back from with a plant or bouquet of something to adorn the apartment with. The smile any time Alec beats him to it is stunning; a reminder that Magnus has never received many gifts in his life. Alec bargains with himself that he’ll find time during the rest of their week together to get him something.

“Alec,” Magnus smiles, “you gave me you. You repeatedly give me you. And apparently, you’re giving me you for the rest of the week; what more could I ask for?”

“Well,” Alec says, raising up enough to look down at him and claim another kiss, “I’d… kind of planned on giving you _me_ indefinitely. But if you wanna put it like that—”

“Alec,” Magnus stops him, by closing the small gap between them and claiming another kiss, “that you’re here, and we’re home, and we’re together, and we’ve got nowhere else that we have to go; that’s all I _could_ want to come home to,”

And what response is Alec supposed to give to that?

He smiles down at Magnus, convinced he’d never in all his live believed he’d get to be this happy. Nuzzles against his cheek and presses another soft kiss to his lips.  

“I love you,” he whispers, holding his gaze so Magnus can see the weight of his words.  

Magnus raises his hand up to cup his face and smiles back with just as much affection. “I love you too,”

* * *

 

 


End file.
